by Josh Adams

@NCAAHoopsDigest

 

New York-  The ball floated like it was on a string on the way to the hoop. The crowd held their collective breath. It went in. Everyone at Madison Square Garden loses their mind.

 

The kid from Trenton is now in the Big East record books. 29 points in the first half. Myles Powell put on a show on Thursday night that few that were in attendance at Madison Square Garden will ever forget. The number of people who will say they were there will grow with time. It was one of those games, check, one of those halves that caused press row to grab the edge of the table and try not to cheer. Powell was that good.

 

29 points in a half. The crazy part is his teammates and Kevin Willard weren’t even that phased by it. “That’s what I see every day”, said Willard after the game. “Any time he steps on the floor I expect to see that.”
It’s almost an afterthought as crazy as it seems that they won. The Seton Hall Pirates are back in the Big East Semifinals. There was a letdown in the second half and they did allow the Hoyas to get a little close for comfort before point guard Quincy McKnight scored 7 straight points to build the Pirates lead back up to 18.  It was a comfortable win, as Seton Hall used Powell’s first half heroics and a defense that caused a young Georgetown team to commit several turnovers.  “Our whole gameplan, was if you can get young kids to to stop and think what they’re doing on offense, it really takes them out of a rhythm.” said Willard. The Hoyas were not ready for the full court traps that Seton Hall sprung on them. “The trap put us back on our heels”, said Ewing, ” We were digging ourselves out of a hole for the entire game. The turnovers, the traps that slowed us down. We weren’t able to get into a good flow and that hurt.”

Next up for the Pirates is a Marquette team that decimated St. John’s in the early game. The two teams split the regular season series and will have less than 24 hours to prepare for the rubber match. Marquette seemed to have their mojo back and Markus Howard looked like his best self against the Red Storm. Whatever happens, a memory was made tonight at the Garden. It was magical, I was there and I plan on keeping that first half score-sheet forever.